


A Man’s Best Friend Is Cats

by CalistaRouge



Category: Doctor Strange (2016), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alien Biology, Aliens, Blood Loss, Cats, Gunshot Wounds, M/M, Mild Blood, Minor Injuries, Pre-Slash, Prompt Fic, Prompt Fill, Protective Tony Stark, Tony Stark Does What He Wants, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tumblr Prompt, injured Stephen strange
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-02
Updated: 2019-07-02
Packaged: 2020-06-02 18:51:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,783
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19447459
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CalistaRouge/pseuds/CalistaRouge
Summary: Prompt #377Stephen never stays or lets Tony stay past 10 o'clock. Always returning to the sanctum and Tony is determined to find out why.“So… what is it that you have to do here everyday at 10, huh?” Tony faced the sorcerer.“I feed the space cats.” Stephen replied nonchalantly.





	A Man’s Best Friend Is Cats

Tony watched as Stephen carefully set down his glass before standing and flexing he fingers a bit.

“Well, thank you for the wonderful evening, Stark, but it’s getting late and I’d better get going.” Stephen said as he slipped on his sling ring.

“Sure you can’t stay for a while, Doc?” Tony asked casually, and despite already knowing his answer, he still dared to hope this time it would be different.

“Sorry Tony, but I have urgent business to take care of at the Sanctum and I can’t be late,” The sorcerer replied, “Thank you for the chat, it was nice catching up with you.”

“Same time next week?” Tony raised his own glass, careful to hide his disappointment, towards Stephen as he made a sparking orange portal into the New York Sanctum.

“I look forward to it.” Stephen smiled at the billionaire before stepping through and leaving him alone with his thoughts and their glasses. 

“Friday, what’s the time?” Tony asked the wall as he took a sip of his whiskey.

“It is now 9:53 P.M., Sir.” Friday’s voice echoed through the Tower’s quiet sitting room which was filled with rich laughter only a few moments ago.

“That’s the fourth time he’s left before 10.” He murmured absently. For some odd reason, Stephen never stayed out late, whether he was at the Tower or the Compound, and always insisted on returning to the Sanctum before 10 like he was Cinderella or something. Whenever Tony asked or tried to make him stay, he simply refused and scurried away into his magic portal. It's been far too consistent to be a coincidence, but Stephen never gave anything away.

Tony sighed and left his glass on the table beside Stephen’s before retiring to his lab. He was far too curious about Stephen's unusual disappearances to fall asleep, but Peter was coming to visit tomorrow and he wanted to work on the kid’s suit some before he got here.

Tony watched Stephen leave in the middle of countless parties, conferences, and meetings to take care of his urgent business at the Sanctum. He never tried to pry when the man made his excuses, despite how close the two have become. Eventually, Tony did find out what Stephen’s business was after a mission to subdue a few mercenaries went south.

“Tony, I’m fine, I took the bullet out and healed most of the damage already, I can do the rest by myself at the Sanctum.” Stephen pushed Tony aside as he tried to conjure a portal.

“Stephen, you’re still hurt. Let’s get you fixed up at the Compound first, then you can go home, yeah?” Tony pleaded with the stubborn sorcerer, eyeing the large bloodstain on his once pristine blue robes.

“I can take care of myself, but I need to get back to the Sanctum now, Tony.”

“Stephen, you’ve just been shot and you’re bleeding out onto the floor as we speak!” Tony nearly screamed in frustration, “What’s so important in the Sanctum at 10 o’clock that you can’t even take care of yourself first?”

Stephen paused and looked back at the hero, noting the lack of a face plate and concern written clearly all over his face, “So you’ve noticed that.”

“Kinda hard not to, with you disappearing before the clock hits ten no matter where you are or what you’re doing, like some kind of teenager with a curfew.”

Stephen sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, “Alright, truce, how about you come with me to the Sanctum.”

“What?”

“Come with me to the Sanctum,” Stephen repeated as he conjured a portal into the old building, “and I’ll let you help me. Deal?”

Tony thought for a moment before answering, “Sure, just one more thing. Gimme your shoulder.” Stephen obliged and pushed some of the fabric away, exposing the wound. Tony carefully applied a layer of nanites to the injury, closing it off and temporarily stopping the bleeding.

“There, that should keep you alive for a bit.”

“Thank you.” Stephen said, then nodded towards his portal, “After you.”

Tony gingerly stepped into the Sanctum and glanced around, half-expecting something to jump out from the shadows. Stephen followed just a moment later and closed the portal.

“So… what is it that you have to do here everyday at 10, huh?” Tony faced the sorcerer who was now rummaging through the cupboards. 

“I feed the space cats.” Stephen replied nonchalantly as he pulled out a few cans and a large milk carton.

“What?” Tony asked in disbelief, “You mean you have a bunch of Goose’s here in the Sanctum? And all those times you ditched us for some ‘important business’ was to feed your cats?”

“Not really, these cats aren’t like Goose, but yes,” Stephen grabbed the food and when Tony blinked they were now standing in front of a plain wooden door, “I leave you all to your boring human affairs to feed my nocturnal space cats.”

“Please stop doing that.” Tony groaned, rubbing away the dizziness that came with the teleportation Stephen was so fond of doing inside the Sanctum. 

“No. Anyway, all cats value routine, yes, but these cats in particular _need_ it. If I don’t stick to it, they could get scared and make random portals the next time I come in, or panic and rip a hole into another dimension.” Stephen said as he pushed open the door with his uninjured shoulder. They stepped into a room filled with cat beds, toys, and several multicolored cats. Most of them were still asleep, but Tony was immediately pounced on by a large, black and dark blue cat.

“Holy fuck!” Tony struggled to catch his balance as the cat curled up around his shoulders and made itself at home there. It stared into his eyes with it’s own, pure black with tiny white dots that looked like stars, and gave such as soft little mew that Tony’s heart couldn’t help but melt immediately.

“That one’s Lyra. She’s very affectionate if you couldn’t already tell.” Stephen chuckled as he made his way towards a group of food bowls nestled near the right wall, carefully stepping over the sleeping cats. Tony gently pet Lyra’s head and she began to purr softly. Okay, yes, Tony got it, these cats were totally worth ditching meetings and charity galas _any_ day.

Stephen prepared the cats’ food and emptied the milk into a large bowl, then began scooping up the multicolored cats and placing them in front of the food, all except for one. 

“Is that Goose?” Tony asked, pointing at the large orange tabby that Stephen left snoozing on the pillow pile.

“Oh, yes. Carol asked me to watch her while she went into deep space, she found her way here and hasn’t left since, as far as I can tell.”

Lyra jumped off Tony’s shoulder and joined the mess of fur on the floor. Once the colorful space cats were happily eating, Stephen sat on a cushion beside Goose and patted the one on his left, “If you’d be so kind as to help me patch myself up, that’d be great, Tony.” 

“Of course.” Tony nodded and sat down, then carefully peeled off the nanites as Stephen pulled out a first aid kit from nowhere. He pushed down his robes enough to expose his injured shoulder and Tony leaned in to carefully clean it. Strong hands held the sorcerer in place and gently dabbed at the entry and exit sites, making sure to clean them as much as he can to prevent any infection.

“Tell me about the space cats.” Tony told Stephen, to distract him from the sting of peroxide and fill the silence. “I pictured you as more of a dog person, but considering your line of work, cats make much more sense.”

“Oh ha ha, Tony. I like them both, but these cats are extremely powerful,” Stephen said, and Tony didn’t miss the light dusting of pink on his cheeks, “They can travel between dimensions fairly easily, but often leave behind scars when they do.”

“How so?”

“Hmm… Let’s say a dimension is a piece of paper, so the multiverse is an infinite stack of papers. Travelling to a different dimension without the proper precautions will create a rip through every other dimension between your target dimension and yours. Anything can come and go through the tears as it pleases.”

Tony retrieves the gauze and gently wraps it around Stephen’s shoulder and then under his arm.

“The older cats know how to safely get into another dimension, but these cats were abandoned or lost their mothers young. They’ll destroy our dimension if I let them out of this room. Thank you, Tony.” Stephen quickly replaced his robes as soon as Tony was done and returned the first aid kit to wherever it was that he got it from.

“Anytime, Stephen. Now, tell me their names.” Tony sat back down beside Stephen, “And were those stars in Lyra’s eyes?”

“All of their eyes do, it’s an image of space from when they first open their eyes. I’m not sure if their eyes ignore rocks and planets, but none of their eyes have any, only lights and colors.” Stephen nodded at a dark red and orange cat, “Fornax over there has a spiral galaxy in his eyes, it’s very beautiful.”

“Pavo’s the blue and green one, she has a couple bright stars in her eyes. The purple, red, and yellow one is Ara, and he has a binary star in his. Caelum, silver and blue one, has a ring galaxy. That gold and brown one is Cetus. Vela is that black and green one over there.”

“She looks like Loki.” Tony commented and that earned him a laugh from Stephen.

“Maybe I should change her name then.” Stephen reached for a feather toy and began swinging it about, that caught the attention of Vela and Cetus, who try and catch it with their paws and teeth. Lyra padded back towards Tony and he pet her soft, sleek fur as she settled down in his lap.

“Speaking of names, did you seriously name them after constellations?” Tony asked, “If so, then you’re such a nerd.”

“Maybe I am.” Stephen turned away from Tony to try and hide his rising blush, and focused on playing with the cats.

Tony laughed and pet Fornax when he bumped into his other hand, “The next time you need to feed them when you’re with me, take me with you. I could use some more of this in my life.”

“Only if you buy their food next time, I’m running out.”

“Oh I can definitely take care of that.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! I hope y'all enjoyed some cats and Stephen was totally hiding them from the Avengers cuz they'd want to play with them too lmao.
> 
> Again, lovely prompt was from Ironstrangeprompts on Tumblr and y'all can find me on calistarouge there as well, but be warned, it's a mess.


End file.
